The Rules of Poker

The King finally learned the split pot rules of poker after setting up his Turbo Texas Hold' em computer that has Win XP.  TTH is not compatible with Win 7.  The King thought that learning these rules would rarely be helpfull and instead they are helpfull occasionally when playing play money heads up.  Studying the rules of split pots this past week was time well spent.

Fat City

Fat City is a movie directed by John Huston and starring Stacy Keach and Jeff Bridges.  Keach plays an alcoholic, over the hill boxer and Bridges is his protege.  It is a good movie and rated high.  In this scene the two main characters are walking into a spacious card room and bar in California somewhere. A railbird is on the left.

This poker room is spacious and has just a few tables.  There at least six players per table and they must be playing poker.

Walking towards the bar.

This looks like a scene from Nighthawk by Edward Hopper.  This is not a poker movie and worth watching.

The King is back at the penny tables and taking a few shots at the higher tables when they are loose and passsive ones available.  There are many loose aggressive tables all the time.

Back to the Penny Tables

The King went back to the loose penny tables.  There were some loose tables at higher micro limit tables but they were few and far in between.  Most tables tend to become tight and even more so at the tables with higher stakes. With tighter play, the pots won become less.  After giving up, temporarily, on the 25-50¢ it was a relief, because the last two big pots the King won were showdowns with high cards - what a stressfull way to play poker.

Losing Again

The King moved up in stakes but still at the microlimit level.  These tables are tougher with isolation plays and tight play.  Most of his pots were won without a showdown and these pots were smaller.  The past two months have been terrible. 

Romans 5:3-4


Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.

Day 3, Month 3, Year 3

The King finally broke even at the 25-50¢ tables for the month.  He knew it would be like this and that is how it was.  In this session, he just played the small blind tighter and didn't table hop as much.  The blinds are 10¢ and 25¢  and similar to the 5-10¢ tables where they are 2¢ and 5¢, and in both games the small blind is less than half of the big blind.  Playing tighter in these games are from Miller and Sklansky.

Back for More Punishment

PokerStars didn't let the King cash out, so he returned to the microlimit tables again. When playing at 2-4¢, his bankroll was 300 big bets or $12.  Playing at 25-50¢, his bankroll is 300 big bets or $150.  Recently there was a $12 loss over 2-3 days and he was devastated.  A $12 loss is 12/150 or 8% and 8% of $12 is 96¢, and the King has had many sessions of being 96¢ down at the 2-4¢ tables.  Still, to lose $12 in a couple days is terrible.

One problem was getting a good top pair hands and high pairs get beat by hands like flushes, straights, full houses, trips and two pairs.  Playing big offsuit cards like AJ, AT, KJ and QJ are a real problem.

The Bluff that Failed - AQ♥

Playing in a freeroll NL Hold 'em tournament, the King came in 965 out of 9,000.  Close but still far from the top 72 that would get free tickets.   He might have made a big mistake going all in with AQ on the flop as a bluff because he was running low on chips - about 6,000 and the blinds were 150-300 and they were antes.  Another player bet 6,000 with pocket fives and there was a five on the flop.  Its free anyway.